“The government has tried to fix these laws after admitting to stuffing them up the first time but there are still serious flaws,” the shadow attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, told News Corp.

“Labor won’t accept laws that put journalists in jail for doing their job or punish innocent Australians who have done nothing wrong.”

The submission pointed to an article for the Wall Street Journal which had resulted in a journalist being sentenced to more than two years in prison as an example of how the proposed laws could affect public interest journalism. The article had examined all sides of the conflict in Turkey, including interviewing and reporting the views of a banned organisation, the PKK, and was regarded as terrorist propaganda.

The joint submission said media companies appreciated that the attorney general, Christian Porter, had considered their concerns and were “grateful” for the amendments, but that they did not go far enough.

Labor and the Greens had joined the media in warning that the legislation would criminalise public interest journalism.

Under the amendments the media would not get a blanket exemption but existing defences would be easier to access as journalists would no longer be required to prove their work was “fair and accurate”, only that they “reasonably believed” it was in the public interest.

The media companies and their union, the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance, are pushing for an exemption for public interest reporting which includes journalists and editorial support staff, who are currently liable for handling any material.

Coalition backs down on security laws after warnings they could criminalise journalism

Read more

“We recommend that persons engaged in public interest reporting be exempted from offences in the bill, including to ‘deal’ with information,” the submission said.

“Notwithstanding the amendments, it remains the case that journalists and their support staff continue to risk jail time for simply doing their jobs.

“This is why we believe that the way in which to deal with this appropriately is to provide an exemption for public interest reporting.”

The right to free speech, a free media and access to information were fundamental to Australia’s modern democratic society, a society that prided itself on openness, responsibility and accountability.

The media was concerned that Australia was out of step with other modern democracies which have the rights to freedom of communication and freedom of the press enshrined in their laws.

“Therefore we do not resile from our long-held recommendation for exemptions for public interest reporting in response to legislation that criminalises journalists for going about their jobs,” the submission said.

“The lack of such a protection – and the ever-increasing offences that criminalise journalists for doing their jobs – stops the light being shone on issues that the Australian public has a right to know.”

The government tabled the bill in December, arguing that the laws were necessary to counter the influence of foreign states such as China and Russia, but the proposal included major changes to secrecy laws that could potentially be applied to journalists and organisations such as WikiLeaks.